by EMLYN WILLIAMS

April 8 - 15

Miss Moffat, a determined Englishwoman, inherits a house in a Welsh mining village, in 1895.  She decides to set up a school for local children, to get them out of the mines.  In doing so, she discovers Morgan Evans - a young man of outstanding promise - and prepares him for a scholarship to Oxford.  Hugely uplifting, and entertaining, this 1937 play is a testament to the power of education to liberate disadvantaged children.

Based on his own life, Welsh playwright/actor, Emlyn Williams, played Morgan Evans to Dame Sybil Thorndike’s Miss Moffat.  Ethel Barrymore was Miss Moffat on Broadway, Bette Davis in the 1945 film, and Katharine Hepburn in a 1979 re-make.   It has just been re-mounted at Britain’s National Theatre, starring Nicola Walker.

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by HENRIK IBSEN

June 16 - 28

Mrs Helene Alving prepares to open an orphanage in memory of her late husband.  Her son, Osvald’s, return summons ghosts of the past, which she is desperate to forget.  Slowly, mercilessly, inexorably, the secrets and lies of an isolated country town are stripped bare, as Mrs Alving battles with the conservative conventions of a society, where an individual’s right to free thought is seen as anarchic and dangerous.

Ibsen’s riveting drama about hypocrisy, and the deadly legacy which Osvald has inherited from his parents, shocked world audiences in 1881, and led to its being banned in many countries.  Independent Theatre’s production of this spell-binding, 5-person chamber-piece will play in Star Theatre’s more intimate Theatre 2.

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based on the screenplay by MARC NORMAN and TOM STOPPARD
adapted for the stage by LEE HALL

November 24 - December 2

Struggling young playwright, Will Shakespeare, is tormented by writer’s block, working on his latest project - Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate’s Daughter.  That is, until he finds his Muse in the beautiful Viola de Lesseps, who secretly wishes to be an actor.  Their forbidden love draws many others - including Queen Elizabeth - into this often hilarious romantic drama, and inspires Will to write the greatest love story of all time.

Tom Stoppard and Marc Norman’s joyous screenplay won them an Oscar, as did the film itself.  Will and Viola were played by Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow.  Lee Hall (author of the musical Billy Elliott) adapted the screenplay into an instant, celebratory stage hit in London, in 2014.

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by TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

Sunday August 6

Abandoned by her charming, but feckless husband, faded Southern belle, Amanda Wingfield, lives in a dreary tenement apartment in St Louis, during the Great Depression.  She comforts herself with romanticised memories of her earlier, more gracious life in Blue Mountain, when she was pursued by hordes of gentleman callers.

Her son, Tom - a budding poet, with a job in a shoe warehouse - longs for adventure and escape from his mother’s suffocating embrace, while her shy, crippled daughter, Laura, retreats into her own world, caring for her “menagerie” of little glass animals.

Amanda is desperate for Tom to find his sister a husband, but, when the long-awaited gentleman caller finally does arrive . . .

Tennessee Williams’ poignant, semi-autobiographical “The Glass Menagerie” was his first major success, launching the brilliant and controversial career of this ground-breaking American playwright.  Rob Croser has directed the play twice before founding Independent Theatre, and Pam O’Grady has played Amanda Wingfield twice before - but never with each other.  They are delighted to be working together on this much-loved play, and to be joined by Independent Theatre favourites Will Cox, Eloise Quinn-Valentine and Eddie Sims.

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